Less than a Month!!!!!

We're finally here! Well, not quite yet because we haven't moved into the house yet. But, given that we have less than a month to go - it almost feels too good to be true. Since last April, we have been looking forward to this time. 

People keep asking me whether or not I felt like the time passed by really slowly. The answer is - just like anything you're really looking forward to - Yes! But, it wasn't all that bad. As mentioned above, we had signed the papers for the house in April 2015. Soon after, summer came around and we spent most of our time outside or on the road. It was a lot easier to cope with living in a (really really) small living space when most of our time was spent outside of the apartment. In the Fall, both Stephane and I were working two jobs which meant on top of not seeing each other often (boohoo), we were also pretty busy working. Again, most of our time was spent outside of the apartment. It became a lot harder when I went back to working one job (my second job was only seasonal) and the cold weather arrived along with shorter sunny days. Our apartment is located near an open field. So, Mimi and I spent lots of evenings walking/ running/ playing around. But, as soon as the weather became much colder, I knew it was time for Mimi and I to start hibernating. After all, she may be feisty but she is pretty small. 

The Apartment

I haven't shared ANY pictures of the apartment ever since the beginning. And quite frankly, only a handful of people has seen the inside of the building. If I may be completely honest, the main reason why is - shame -. I'm not ashamed of living in a small apartment. I actually find there are many benefits from living in a small space one of which is it's a huge money saver. But, given that I knew living in that apartment was only going to be temporary, I didn't put much effort into making it 'cozy'. There are far too much stuff lying around. We've actually had to make a path on the floor to allow us to move from the entrance to the kitchen. All of our coats are lying on a huge pile on the floor instead of being hung up on the wall or in the closet (no more space in the closet). Around all of our stuff are piles and piles of boxes and containers ready for when we move. Did I mention that we live in a one bedroom apartment which Junior uses as his bedroom and we sleep in the living room? Maybe one day I will share pictures of our apartment. But, for now, I don't care to remember this place in the future. 

Location

I cannot wait to walk around in a neighborhood where I feel safe in. I've stopped counting the amount of times I've seen people inject themselves with drugs, hire prostitutes, hearing reports of people shot or stabbed just a few streets away, etc. Not cool. Not cool at all. 

The area where we are moving in is the complete opposite of where the apartment is. It's very family oriented which means lots of schools, parks, playgrounds and people around our age. 

House

Dear house, you will be appreciated to the FULLEST. 

I can't wait to:

- invite people over

- cook in my kitchen

- sit on a couch (instead of always sitting on our bed to eat or watch TV, etc)

- be able to do laundry in our own house without having to always carry huge loads of laundry elsewhere

- be able to feel at home (haven't felt that ever since moving into the apartment)

- meet our neighbors 

- decorate!!!! :-)

Can't wait to show you guys our new casa!!!

- Jessica

Progress on the House

This morning, I had the opportunity to go visit the site of our future house. I met with a construction site supervisor who then showed me around the house as we talked about the progress. 

It was the first time I saw the brick on the house. I personally REALLY like the look of bricks. The supervisor told me the siding will be white and beige. I'm not a big fan of beige but I have faith in them that they have thought about the aesthetics of the house prior to making that decision. Fingers crossed that it will look good. 

Side note, the ground in front of the house was quite uneven while walking around. It will all be evened out prior to moving in. But it did remind me of a bumpy downhill skiing trail. Do I have winter on my mind much?

Standing in the Master Bedroom. Left of the picture will be our walk-in closet. On the right will be our washroom. 

Standing in the third bedroom looking into Junior's bedroom.

Standing in Junior's bedroom looking into our bedroom. Top right is the third bedroom.

We started the tour by walking around upstairs. It felt a little surreal being able to see through the walls. For some reason, it made the rooms appear smaller than the ones in the model home. But, the supervisor assured me that it's a common comment among people and that it will all appear a little bigger once the rooms are finished. 

Standing in the dinning area.

Standing in the kitchen area.

Standing in the living room looking into the kitchen area.

Next up - the main floor. Since the main floor has more of an open concept, it made it easier for me to visualize the settings. One thing I fell in love with in the model home was the staircase. There is something about the staircase that can add so much personality to a home. I once lived in a house that had a spiral staircase and I loved how it gave an open concept. This reminded me of that spiral staircase and I love how open it looks. Having a split staircase also allows for the home owner to save space as it's typically one on top of the other. 

When we purchased the house, we were told that a fireplace was included in our home. I LOVE fireplaces. I love how it can center a room as well as adding that perfect touch of drama. I can easily picture a Christmas garland hanging up top the fireplace next year. Ahhhh, the dream!

Our kitchen was the hardest to visualize since it's still no where near complete. Don't get me wrong, I know nothing is currently completed in the house but there will be so many various things added that even the outlook of it ad the moment will look completely different. The site supervisor advised me that the kitchen will be completed the first week of January. He mentioned that if we were interested in seeing it prior to our move in date, we could give him a call for a visit. I think this may just happen :-)

Tah-dah! This is a little preview of what our house will look like in less than 3 months. I haven't shared any pictures of the basement on purpose. Quite frankly, it's just boring. Our basement will be unfinished and we're planning on simply letting it be for at least a few years.

We're pretty excited about the progress. It's amazing how everything goes by fairly fast once it gets going. Every week, something new is added to the house. Exciting!!!

Thanks for letting me share such a cool and exciting moment in our lives :-)

- Jessica 

Master bedroom - Inspiration (And Before Pictures)

To give you a sense of my style and inspiration for each room, I thought I would share some pictures that hopefully gives you an idea of where I'm heading in terms of style and decoration. 

MASTER BEDROOM

I've had lots of fun coming up with ideas for the master bedroom given that even if it's not the main focus of the house, it's definitely an area of the house where we are going to spend almost half of our time. My first ideas were ALL white with various shades of blue (i.e. bedspread, etc.). I even thought about a nice bedspread with flowers but - that idea was quickly turned down when I shared it with Stephane.

BEFORE

(Pictures of our 'model home').

GREY

Therefore, I switched my focus to various shades of greys. Greys are not gender specific yet they bring a sense of calm and relaxation. Also, greys being neutral, they provide plenty of opportunity for different pops of colors. I knew I wanted to have the ability to change a few colors in the bedroom depending on the season therefore - grey it is.

RUSTIC

I also loved the idea of waking up in the morning feeling like I've spent the night at a cottage. The wood wall really makes the difference in helping the room feel very rustic. I'm not quite sure how I will make it happen yet but I've already found plenty of cheap DIY options on Pinterest. Can't wait to see the outcome!

Wooden furniture? Love it! Why not re-purpose a wooden ladder into a mini book display. Although, I would probably use it to display some pictures frames and perhaps lay a few wooden sticks just for decoration purposes. 

Given that our house will not actually be a cottage, I also don't want to over do it in terms of adding wood to every single piece of decoration. Therefore, I'm also thinking about mixing the wooden objects with metal objects. In the picture above, they used dark metal for their ceiling lamp, their bedside lamps as well as the curtain rod. I love how it adds balance to the overall texture of the room.

ACCESSORIES

I'm also thinking about mix-matching various styles by adding various patterns such as polka-dots and/or tribal patterns. Adding lighter pillows to an otherwise darker bedroom would help counter-balance the overall feel to the bedroom.

I hope this helps you get a sense of the direction I'm going to take in terms of decoration each room of the house. It definitely helps me figuring it all out went it comes to writing down my thoughts and ideas on this blog.

- Jessica 

Dinning Room Area - Inspiration (And Before Pictures)

FRENCH-RUSTIC DECOR

When you walk into the house, the first room you see is the dinning area. Given that it will be the main focus of the first floor, I've spent A LOT OF TIME thinking about the space. 

BEFORE

(Picture of our ''model home'').

DINNING AREA

Originally, I had intended to sell our dinning room table and simply buy a new one. You can see it here. But, after feeling so inspired by various wooden dinning room tables, I've decided to keep our current table in order to add to the overall rustic style of the house. I may paint it a different colors (maybe white or light blue) but I've decided to wait until we move into the house before making that decision.

DINNING CHAIRS

One thing I'm almost 100% sure (okay, maybe more like 99.9%), is that I want to paint my dinning chairs. Over the years, we've accumulated a total of 6 various wooden chairs that are just begging to be painted. Perhaps I should paint them all a different colors? I'm currently leaning towards painting half of them off-white, the other half baby-pink-beige. I may also change my mind completely... no surprises there.

DISPLAY

While I'm a big fan of variety, there is something I find quite appealing in the way these pictures are displayed. The simplicity of these picture frames is quite timeless yet very romantic. I'm thinking of displaying similar pictures frames on the wall just behind the dinning table.

Overall, my plan for this room is for the decorations to be simple, rustic and unique to make it welcoming for guests to feel comfortable as soon as they walk in the house. An overall french-rustic atmosphere.

- Jessica